The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Tyler and I finally finished up the Nolan Batman trilogy.  He liked it but also felt like it was rough going.

Okay, so those two sentences were all I managed last weekend.  The good news is that I just got laid off so now I should have more free time in between crying jags and frantically searching for new jobs on CareerBuilder.com.  Look on the bright side, right?

Originally posted 24 Jul 2102.  7/2/13 So I rewatched this one now that Rob bought it on blu-ray.  I still think it was good, it just can't compare to its predecessor.    Again, I was in Alabama all weekend showing off Rob to my family, praying they wouldn't kill and eat him, and that's why there were no posts til now.  I'd like to say that I was doing it out of respect for the victims of the Colorado midnight premiere massacre (and I certainly will not be making light out of their tragedy) but it's because I was busy running around with family members.

Ironically enough, Christy, Rob and I did not go to the midnight showing in my small town because the last time Christy had gone to one a bomb threat was called in and she and her brother had to evacuate the theater.  So we had to wait until the next day.  And, yes, we went anyway because I will be damned if I let some asshole with Ronald McDonald hair keep me from seeing the finale to one of the best, if not the best, superhero series of all time. 

And don't get me started on that hair.  I am by no means a legal expert but I will guarangoddamntee you that fucker dyed his hair and told police he was "the Joker" as a pre-emptive plea for insanity in case he didn't get shot.  As if a real obsessed fan wouldn't know that the Joker's hair is GREEN, not red.  This is my argument for when those talking heads on TV bring up the inevitable "Are Violent Movies to Blame for the Ruining of Our Nation?!" claptrap.  There will always be nutcakes who use the excuse of outside stiumli being to blame for their fucked up actions.  It's not true.  It never has been.  I personally have known people who simply wanted to know what it felt like to kill another human being and acted on the impulse instead of ranting in a chatroom like a normal person.  They're in jail now.  (The victim made a full recovery, FYI.)  Are they still despicable?  Yes, but at least they didn't try and blame music or movies or video games for why they were the way they were.

I'm done now.  I didn't even really know I was going to spew all that out but it just makes me so mad.  This is why we can't have nice things!

The movie itself was about a hair's-breadth from Completely Depressing but was saved by one of the most kickass endings in cinema.  Despite being put through the ringer for nearly two and a half hours, we walked out of that theater starry-eyed and filled with hope.  I will endeavor to not have any spoilers.

It has been eight years since the events in The Dark Knight and Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has become a virtual shut-in.  During a memorial service celebrating the succes of the Dent Act, a saucy cat burgler (Anne Hathaway) breaks into his manor and lifts his fingerprints from a safe.  Meanwhile, a young policeman named John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) finds evidence of a terrorist army gathering under Gotham's streets in the sewer system, led by masked mercenary Bane (Tom Hardy).  In the absence of Batman's involvement, Bane manages to capture the entire city and hold it hostage.

Once again, this is not the uplifting part.  It gets really depressing.  Alfred (Michael Caine) in particular is a real Debbie Downer the whole movie.  But stick with it because, I promise you, the ending will make you a Nolan believer all over again.